Thirty-nine percent of gay men living in New York City choose not to disclose their sexual orientation to their doctors, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which examined data from the 2004 to 2005 Centers for Disease Control National HIV Behavioral Survey. This situation might prevent doctors from testing them for HIV, the study warns.

The study conducted by the New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene involved data from 452 men who were interviewed anonymously at gay bars and clubs, tested for HIV, and offered medical and socials services as needed.

The findings show that men who admit being gay were twice as likely as those who did not to have been tested for HIV – 63 percent compared to 36 percent.

The study also found wide racial and ethnic variation in disclosure rates. Some 60 percent of black men said they didn’t tell their doctors about their sexual orientation; 48 percent of Hispanics; 47 percent of Asian men and 19 percent of white men.

Men over the age of 28 were more likely to confess to their doctors compared to younger men (69 percent versus 52 percent).

Immigrants and less educated people were less likely to admit being gay compared to those born in the US or those who were better educated.

The findings might be due to a strong social stigma against homosexuality that still exists in the US and all over the world.

“It’s a combination of people being less comfortable with the term gay or homosexual, and discrimination they perceive they will experience if they are open about their sexual experiences and attractions,” Dr. Elizabeth Begier, the city’s director of HIV epidemiology, said as quoted by the New York Daily News.

In order to prevent HIV from spreading and for fear gays would not open up about their sexual orientation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted in 2006 a plan according to which health care providers are offering HIV tests to all patients between the ages of 13 and 64.